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Chi-blocker:The Avatar Arrives
Chapter 10: The Avatar Arrives At least one good thing that came out of yesterdays' experience at Virote's was that I knew work started at nine o'clock. I arrived on time today, which was nice because it was one less thing that Virote could complain about. This time I stayed in my register, but it was a slow day. At some point, Virote turned on the radio to listen to the news. Most of the stuff that was heard was just boring banter about things that did not involve me. However, as soon as I reached to turn the radio off, a voice came on the radio. "And now, let's tune in to Avatar Korra's press conference!" This was news to me; I had not heard that the Avatar had yet arrived in Republic City. "Hello." There was a pause. "I'm Korra, your new Avatar." She kept getting questions by the press, and she did the best of her ability to answer them even though she sounded extremely nervous the whole time. I didn't blame her though; she was new to Republic City after being raised in a tribe her whole life. I stayed tuned for a bit to the conference but it was mainly just her answering questions on how the world was doing. Eventually, Tenzin had them stop asking her questions, and it was switched back to the normal banter. I supposed it was interesting to hear that the Avatar had arrived, and I wondered if she'd be doing anything here besides training airbending, or if she knew about the Equalists abducting innocents off of the streets of the United Republic. I supposed it was more of a thing for the cops, but honestly, I didn't think that they would be able to handle the Equalists. I continued thinking this and other assorted thoughts for the rest of the day. I sat around, bored, at the market until I saw finally my shift was over. I walked over to Virote and he dropped a few yuan slips in my hand. I counted up the total, and found it to be fifteen. I had mixed feelings. I was happy that he had paid me more than the last time, but I was also frustrated that he was still not paying me my full share. I was tempted to shoot a look at him, but I was too afraid to do so. I took my money, shoved it in a pocket, and walked home. I quietly thought on the Avatar's arrival, and saw the sun begin to slip off into Yue Bay. Quickly, I arrived in front of the small white house I called home, I pulled out my pair of keys, and unlocked the door. I found the last of the leftovers and put it over the stove and began to cook it. I sighed, sat at the table alone, and picked at the remains of a roasted duck. It was very lonely sitting and eating like that, but I was beginning to get used to it. I ate in peace, and eventually decided to turn on the radio after the loneliness was beginning to set in. Hearing the music playing behind me helped ease in the bitter taste that sitting at the wide table by myself had brought in. It was a more upbeat jazzy tune, and I finished my dinner listening to it. Until the sun was completely out of sight, I head to my room and practiced airbending forms. I had figured out how to shoot air, but honestly besides that, I was a bit lost. I couldn't shape it, control it, or even "feel" it, as the book had described me to do. I was good at several of the early non-bending forms, and the more head-on approach of shooting the air, but after that, I was clueless. As soon as I saw the first stars setting in outside the window, I sighed in relief, finally ready to do something other than airbending. I took the trolley down to the library, and the librarian nodded in recognition. "Sixty-seven, right?" I nodded. "Just go on downstairs" I walked down the long tunnel, and near the door, I saw for the first time a third tunnel near the door in the training center. Normally, I would head in back of the library, and take stairs down a dimly lit pathway to a door, yet for the first time I saw a new passageway to the left of the stairs, if you were walking down it. I decided it would be best not to explore, and headed into the arena. "Hey, sixty-seven" Jakobe said, coming over with a smile. "Hi." I responded shortly. "Well, it looks like you've got the basic chi blocking technique down, but there are a few more things we'd like you to try. In the Equalist rebellion, there are different levels. Most of our combatants are trained to have decent talent in a few different things; more specifically smoke bomb throwing, rope throwing, and chi blocking. However, we do have certain specialists amongst us. These people are especially talented in certain things. "The organization has been looking for a chi blocking specialist. Now, I told my superiors about you and they said that you could be what we're looking for. However, some people are not keen on this idea. They believe that a true chi blocking master should be able to make even benders paralyzed. Many don't believe it's possible, but in some history textbooks, a chi blocker is said to have attacked Avatar Aang using such techniques. However, if you're spotted to be good enough to become our specialist, I'm sure you can get this position." I stood there, listening the whole time to what he was saying. I was a bit shocked, and I had honestly not expected anything to go this far. I figured that this was for the best though, and I prayed to the spirits that my cover wouldn't be blown. "Anyways," Jakobe continued "we've got some more problems to deal with anyways, the Avatar's here. That reminds me, I should probably make an announcement for the entire group to hear" the instructor raised his voice and kept speaking. "As you may have heard, the Avatar has arrived in Republic City." A murmur went through us. "However, Amon assures us that it will do nothing to hinder our plans and, if anything, will progress them. Equality shall arrive, my brothers and sisters!" There was a faint cry of agreement throughout the group and then all was silent. "Anyways, it seems like soon you'll be able to move up to the full level Equalists; but there are skills you must learn first. You'll need to learn how to throw rope, bombs, and a few other basic maneuvers in order to get accepted. 67, are you ready?" I grinned and said, "I am." I spent the rest of that class training. By the time I walked home, the moon was high in the sky and the starts twinkled above. I was completely tired, and I headed home to collapse into my bed. Learning how to use the smoke bombs and the rope was hard. If there was one thing I knew I could not do to save my life, it was aim. I was usually feet off from the target I tried to hit, no matter which way I aimed. After a rough day of practice, I headed home so exhausted it was all I could do not to curl up into a ball and fall asleep on the streets. I reached the trolley stop, and I sat there until it reached the stop nearest to my house. I was sure that the stars would be shining were it not for the light pollution that comes with living in a city. I pulled out the key that unlocks my house door, and practically crawled inside. As soon as I saw my bed, I crashed down and fell asleep. *** I awoke with the sun glaring into my eyes, yawned, and went to go make breakfast for the morning. Then I went to work, then came back home, left again to Equalist training, and finally came home again. I was beginning to fall into a pattern. Each day I would wake up, make breakfast go to work, have, head out to the Equalist training site and walk home. Slowly, my aim was improving with the rope, and I was coming close to mastering the technique. I knew I should have also been practicing airbending, in case I needed it, but in the moment I was more hung up on training with the rope, and then slowly moving onto the smoke bombs. Eventually, I figured out how to do a normal block without airbending, but that only helped my conscience, not my situation. Since the Avatar's arrival, our days had been relatively uneventful. The Avatar had quickly joined a pro-bending team, and was seldom seen or heard of except on Shiro Shinobi's commentary on the matches. I had never particularly liked pro-bending, but Isra loved it. I didn't even understand what the rules were, and when I told Isra it looked like people just punching each other with bending, she sighed and tried to explain me the rules. I still don't understand them, though, but I was never going to be a pro-bender anyways. Jakobe announced to us that the Equalists would be holding their first rally in a few weeks, and that they were calling it "The Revelation". I was close to completing training, I had figured out the use of the bombs, and I was working on my aim every day. I had thought about using airbending, but honestly I was not that advanced at the art of it, and I could only push air around. Slowly, I was on my way to becoming an Equalist, and slowly getting closer to rescuing Isra.